Ghislaine Maxwell appears via a video link during her court hearing, where she was denied bail for her role, helping Jeffrey Epstein recruit and eventually mistreat underage girls at Manhattan Federal Court in New York. York, July 14, 2020, in this room sketch.
Jane Rosenberg | Reuters
A federal judge on Monday for the second time this year denied bail to Ghislaine Maxwell, the wealthy British socialist accused of preparing underage girls to be sexually abused by money manager Jeffrey Epstein.
Judge Alison Nathan found that when she first denied bail in July, Maxwell posed a serious risk of absconding, given her wealth, possession of citizenship in several countries and the seriousness of the charges they face .
The denial came three days after Maxwell celebrated his 59th birthday on Christmas Day in a federal prison in Brooklyn.
In his most recent bail application, Maxwell had asked for the release of a $ 22.5 million personal recognition bond and $ 1 million more committed by seven relatives and friends.
He also proposed that the armed guards ensure that she was confined to a New York City residence and that she be monitored with an electronic device.
Prosecutors strongly opposed the request and Nathan agreed with them on his order issued Monday in federal court in Manhattan.
“The Court … considers that the conditions of bail proposed by the defendant would not reasonably ensure his appearance in future proceedings,” Nathan wrote in the ruling.
“The Court concludes that none of the new information the defendant submitted in support of her application has a material influence in the Court’s determination that there is a risk of absconding.”
Maxwell, who was arrested in New Hampshire on July 2, has pleaded not guilty to the case.
In addition to the charges related to allegedly recruiting and fixing several underage girls for her ex-boyfriend Epstein in the 1990s, Maxwell is also charged with perjury for allegedly lying during a deposition for a lawsuit filed by an Epstein prosecutor.
She is due to stand trial next year.
Epstein, 66, died in Manhattan Federal Prison in August 2019 because of what authorities decided was a hanging suicide.
At the time of his death, Epstein was being held without bail on charges of child sex trafficking.
A former friend of Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, Epstein previously pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida that included paying a minor girl for sexual services.
He served 13 months in prison in this case, but was left out for much of that time on probation.